Mount Perdido: sacred and symbolic dimensions of a high limestone massif in the Pyrenees

MARÍA CONSTANZA CERUTI

Berna

Congreso; European Association of Archaeologists 2019; 2019

Universidad de Berna

Mount Perdido (3355 m) is part of the Pyrenean massif of the Three Sisters and it is considered to be one of the highest lime- stone mountains in Europe. It overlooks the Ordesa valley, a nineteenth century destination for British hunters of wild mountain goats. The area is visited nowadays by hikers and mountaineers, in search for the aesthetic experience of walking and climbing in one of the most beautiful corners of the Pyrenees. The sacred and symbolic dimensions of mount Perdido are timidly revealed in the Tibetan prayer flags and personal items deposited on its summit. The fascination exerted by this numinous peak is balanced against its terrifying nature, as described in the Pyrenean folklore and in oral narratives that keep alive the memory of lethal accidents on the dangerous slopes below the summit. Symbols of the Catholic religion, which crown the heights of neighboring peaks, are not present on mount Perdido. The presence or absence of certain religious items at the foot, on the slopes and on the summits of culturally modified peaks can be analyzed from an archaeological perspective, as material evidences which reveal the sacred dimension of mountainous landscapes.